Sub-Saharan

Africa

Newest country South Sudan

Capital: Juba

Geography• The worlds second largest continent• Most nations of any continent

–Newest country South Sudan

• Location and Effects–Between two oceans; Atlantic & Indian –

linked and isolated–Part of major trade routes since ancient

times

Regions

• North Africa – above the Sahara Desert– Linked to the Middle East culturally

• Sub-Saharan Africa– West Africa – extends into Atlantic

• Part of major slave trade routes to new world

– Central Africa – home to Africa’s tropical rain forests

– Southern Africa – crucial to trade b/w oceans – East Africa – Great Rift Valley, fertile land

Landforms • The land made exploration difficult for Europeans = natural

barriers• Africa is a continent of Plateaus

– Escarpments: steep cliffs & basins, swamps, lakes

• Mountains: edges – Atlas Mts, Drakensberg Range,Mt. Kilimanjaro – highest mountain in Africa

• Great Rift Valley – a giant fault – Red Sea to Zambezi River – Series of mountain, valleys, lakes– Rich in natural resources, fertile soil– Hard to mine and transport because of the rough terrain

– Olduvai Gorge: bone that belonged to the ancestors of modern people

• Deserts: Sahara (largest), Kalahari• Coastal Plains

Rivers

• Provide food, transportation, irrigation and hydroelectric power– Cataracts: waterfalls; river rapids

• Major Rivers

–Nile, Congo (Zaire), Niger, Zambezi

Nile River – East Africa

• Longest flowing river in the world 4,160 miles – flows north

• Home to early civilizations– Predictable floods supported huge population

• Aswan High Dam– Pros – Hydroelectric Power, Irrigation– Cons – Farmers upstream now need to

purchase fertilizers

• Nile River Route and its tributaries

• Zaire (Congo) River– Central Africa

– Provides hydroelectric power

– Cannot be navigated with boats

– Poor for trade

• Niger River– West Africa

– Provides water for irrigation

– Floods predictably

Zaire (Congo) River

Niger River

Zambezi River

• Southern Africa

• Creates Victoria Falls, 1 mile wide and 420 ft. high, between Zambia and Zimbabwe

• The Kariba Dam provides hydroelectric power

Victoria Falls (Zambezi River)

Africa’s Natural Resources

Rich source of resources

• Mineral Resources (see map)• Gold and Diamonds

• Europeans mined much of their gold from west Africa beginning in the Age of Discovery

• Power-Wealth-Trade

Africa’s Resources Today

• Gold and Diamonds – South Africa, D.R. Congo

• Copper – Zaire and Zambia

• Platinum and Cobalt – S. Africa, Zaire, and Botswana

• Oil – Nigeria, Botswana, Libya, Algeria, and Gabon

• Profits from African nations often end up in foreign countries

Adapting to the Land

• Societies developed near sources of water– hunting and gathering– farming– herding– fishing– urban

• Major urban areas developed on the Mediterranean Coast, western savannas, and East Coast

Language

• More than 1,000 languages• Groups only a few miles apart often speak

different languages– Small tribes migrated constantly and used their

own language

• Scholars group African Languages into large families

• Trade and diffusion created new languages– Swahili: Bantu and Arabic

Section 1 Quiz Answers

1. C Hydroelectric Power

2. B cataract

3. A escarpment

4. B Nile

5. C Aswan Dam

6. B the Pacific Ocean

7. A mountains

8. C 4,000 mile fault line that splits the continent

9. B halted annual flooding of the Nile

10. B seize a share of Africa’s gold and diamonds